Mark Bugnaski / Gazette FileAngela Brightwell-Conrad, a research associate at Metabolic Solutions Development Co. works with fluorescently labeled cells at the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center in this Jan. 12 file photo.

Results from that work may reveal strategies to support cell function and fend off Alzheimer-related changes.

MSDC-0160 is a new drug therapy being developed by Kalamazoo-based Metabolic Solutions Development Co. LLC to treat people with dementia that results from Alzheimer’s disease. It modulates the metabolism of mitochondria. That may play an important role in brain cell survival, according to information provided by the company.

“Growing evidence suggests that loss of mitochondrial function, resulting in a corresponding decline in brain glucose metabolism, could be a contributing cause of Alzheimer’s disease,” according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

More than 180,000 Michiganians age 65 or older are estimated to suffer with Alzheimer’s disease, That is up 6 percent from the year 2000, and it is a figure that is expected to ris by another 25 percent (to 190,000 people) by 2025.

“With Alzheimer’s disease it is most often the community physicians on the front lines who are the first to evaluate patients with dementia,” Dr. William H. Baer, of VARI-ClinXus, said in a press release. “Treatments, however, are limited. To give patients the most effective chance to modify or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, we need to connect patients to the latest clinical trials and research options as soon as possible.”

To that end, physicians at medical centers in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids are trying to find individuals interested in participating in a clinical trial of a new drug therapy to treat dementia that results from Alzheimer’s disease.

“Early detection of Alzheimer’s can be challenging and once a diagnosis is made, there is still no cure,” Dr. Phillip M. Green, of the Borgess Research Institute in Kalamazoo, said in the press release. “It is imperative we provide increased access to clinical trials that can potentially modify the onset of the disease for our patients and ultimately, lead to a breakthrough in care.”

Dr. Raj C. Shah, director of the Rush Memory Clinic at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago, said, “In this initial study, we are trying to determine if MSDC-0160 improves the brain’s use of glucose. We can measure brain cell glucose utilization by using a special brain imaging technique called fluordeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography, or FDG-PET.”

Shah is a principal investigator of the study.

He and the others are looking for people 55-85 years of age who do not have diabetes, and who have been diagnosed with mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Individuals enrolled in the clinical trial will be randomized to receive either MSDC-0160 or a placebo once a day for 90 days. Patients will also undergo two FDG-PET brain imaging scans.

The
clinical study is being funded by a grant from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery
Foundation. More information about this trial for Alzheimer's disease is available by contacting Baer or Beth Eckhardt of VARI-ClinXus at 616-234-5459 or 616-485-2652; or Borgess Research Institute at 269-226-4803.

Metabolic Solutions Development Co. is a drug discovery and development company founded in 2006 by former researchers of The Upjohn Co. It has raised more than $55 million to support development of its lead compounds MSDC-0160 and MSDC-0602.